 "smartphones, mobile")
Global mobile brands that had a lacklustre performance in the Indian market and withdrew a few years ago are making an aggressive comeback with homegrown licensee partners.
Despite a slowdown in smartphone sales in the country, which grew by only 1 per cent in 2024 and fell by 9 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, French brand Alcatel and Taiwanese brand Acer are re-entering the market through licence agreements with Indian players.
They will be joining Finnish phone manufacturer HMD, which acquired the Nokia brand name from Microsoft but began selling under its brand in the second half of last year, albeit with a negligible share.
Their aim is big this time.
Says Atul Vivek, chief business officer of Alcatel India (NxtCell India) — a homegrown company cofounded by mobile device veteran Madhav Sheth, who was also instrumental in setting up Realme before he quit: “In the next two years, we are aiming to become one of the top three brands in the country. We will start with offerings in the ₹15,000-25,000 range and then enter every segment of the market eventually. We will launch our products across the country in the next 45-60 days.”
Acer is also not holding back. It has just launched two phones through the online platform Amazon, starting from April 15, with an introductory base price of ₹9,900. Says Anand Dubey, chief executive officer of Indkal Technologies, which holds the licence to manufacture and sell the phones: “Our aim in the next 36 months is to achieve a high single-digit market share in whichever segment we enter. We will launch products across various ranges, including the premium end of up to ₹60,000.”
Yet, it is a tough market to crack.
Says Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research: “The top 10 original equipment manufacturers in the country capture 96 per cent of the smartphone market, leaving very little room for others. Of course, India is the second-largest market in the world, so it holds potential for new entrants (according to industry estimates, only 60 per cent of the population owns smartphones; the rest need to upgrade).
But they must offer a differentiator, a clean, bloat-free user interface, and competitive pricing, especially in the sub-₹20,000 segment, which sees the highest volume.”
Pathak, however, cautions that brand loyalty in this segment is very low, making it open to experimentation, but only if the value proposition is strong and consistent.
Alcatel’s Vivek hopes to do just that — it is positioning itself as a ‘tech lifestyle’ brand and not just any smartphone.
“For the past few years, there has not been any radical change in design. We will be offering a radical new technology in display, perhaps for the first time ever. We will offer a stylus with phones, which are typically available only in premium phones. And they will all be artificial intelligence-enabled in such a way that it improves productivity,” says Vivek.
Acer’s plan is also to offer specifications that competitors do not provide in that segment at a similar price. “In the sub-₹18,000 segment, we are offering a Sony sensor Amoled (active matrix organic light-emitting diode) display with a 62-megapixel camera with high-definition capability, which most competitors don’t offer in this price range. The phone is tested for endurance in India and designed in India for India,” says Dubey.
